Search

College Prep Program: Design Thinking

WashU's College Prep Program offers an intensive, on-campus learning experience to first-generation, college-bound high school students from the St. Louis region. Second-year College Prep participants take Design Thinking: An Approach to Problem Solving. The course provides an overview of approaches to design thinking. Students learn skills in human-centered research, data visualization, creative synthesis, prototyping, and presentation.

In summer 2017, student participants will explore how to prepare healthy food while living in a dorm room, a project that will not only expose them to human-centered design, but also to life in college. The course will be led by Alix Gerber, the Louis D. Beaumont Artist in Residence.

Teaching Assistant Positions

Each summer, positions for teaching assistants will be available. TAs will work closely with groups of College Prep Program students as they learn the basics of design thinking, which is an experiential, visually oriented process of identifying, creating, and implementing solutions to problems. Ideal candidates will be creative and enthusiastic about design and high school students. Students from design, architecture, art, or related fields are encouraged to apply.

Teaching assistants will work 12 hours/week, primarily on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, as well as some evenings and afternoons. The program typically runs for three weeks in June. This position is a great paid supplement to a summer internship or summer course in St. Louis. Application details for summer 2018 will be available in late 2017. Students are also encouraged to apply to be Program Assistants for the College Prep Program.

For more information about the College Prep Program, contact Liz Kramer at kramer@wustl.edu.